The Inventor's Dilemma
by inventor-of-light
Summary: It was supposed to be the way they got their lives back on track. But after a tragedy that leaves Ryan Copper staggering, he must defeat the darkness within himself, to save what's most important. Disclaimer: I do not own the Alan Wake franchise or the company that made it.
1. Prologue

**(A/N): This is the first thing I've ever written, so mind your manners when you review please, but remember to enjoy and review!**

**The Inventor's Dilemma**

**Prologue**

"Are you sure about this Emily?" Ryan said as he finally packed the last bag in the trunk.

"We both need this Ryan, you know that." Emily replied, with her usual soft and understanding voice.

Ryan and Emily Copper have been a married couple for a full year, living in the same apartment building as the famous writer Alan Wake and his wife Alice. Both in their early twenties, Ryan is an ambitious, kindhearted inventor and engineer with a brilliant mind for machines (Who is a bit paranoid for his wife's safety, if you ask Emily). Emily, by contrast, is an aspiring artist, a bit on the shy side, (Unless she's around her husband) and likes to keep to herself. Both have had a severe case of "artist's block" as they like to call it, for the past few months. So while Alice and Emily were on "girl's night out" one day, Alice told her a psychiatrist named Emil Hartman, who specialized in helping artists like them get through mental blocks and the like, had some spots at his clinic open. Emily, incredibly frustrated because she couldn't get a good painting out in awhile, called their friend Frank Breaker to ask if there was anyone he knew there that could show them around.

"My daughter, Sarah, should be able to show you around a bit, if she finds the time," The old detective said gruffly. "Tell her I said hi, would 'ya?"

"Sure thing, Frank" Emily said.

But Ryan wasn't exactly "ecstatic" about the idea.

"A psychiatrist!" Ryan shouted. "We're not crazy!"

"Any better ideas?" Emily said.

So Ryan resigned to the idea, seeing no other option. _How will we raise a family if we're jobless? _Was Ryan's biggest concern. Emily's was more along the lines of, _How will I ever get my art well known if I can't paint anything? _

So here they were, prepared to head to some small town called Bright Falls that they had never heard of, to stay at a mental health clinic a _week_ after Alice and Alan had already left. _Not exactly a vacation, _Ryan thought, as he climbed into the driver's seat of their old Pontiac Grand Prix. _But who knows? Maybe some fresh air is all we need. _

Neither of them expected this to be the worst time of their lives.

**(A/N): I should publish new chapters every couple of days or so.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"The Creator's Dilemma, huh?" Ryan said suspiciously, "Psychiatrist and author? I don't buy it."

"Now you're just being ridiculous." Emily replied as she rolled her eyes.

"I thought we established that I'm more paranoid than a drug dealer in a police station?" Ryan said with a small smile. "Hey, there's the next gas station, your turn."

Ryan and Emily liked to switch who drives every so often, so one person can't complain about how long they were driving.Ryan told Emily that he was tired, and needed some sleep, so he got in the passenger's seat and let her take care of the gas. He fell asleep almost instantly, which was unusual, and began to snore loudly.

And dream a very strange dream.

It wasn't like any dream Ryan had ever had before. He was much more conscious of his surroundings, and had more memory of his actual life. He was standing in a field of clockwork flowers, the turning of gears like music to his ears, but there was someone else here, he could feel it. He turned in a 360 but could see nothing. Then he felt a tap on the top of his head, and he looked up.

It was the strangest sight he had ever seen.

It, or, "HE" as Ryan was soon to find out, looked like an old 70's diving suit. It had four windows in a diamond arrangement, with light poring out of each one so brightly you couldn't see the wearer's face. It was completely white and bulged around the joints. There were 2 small holes on the left and right side of the helmet that spouted bubbles regularly as he floated above Ryan's head. Ryan somehow was comforted by his presence, for whatever reason.

"I don't have much time," The diver said. He sounded as though he was talking to Ryan through a tunnel. "It's following me, I can't stop it. My name is Thomas Zane, find me again."

Then, everything went dark.


	3. Chapter 2

**(A/N): Here's a longer chapter, since I thought they were a bit too short.**

Chapter 2

Ryan was very confused, getting hit with all that in a few seconds, and things just got worse from that point. It was almost as if the sun went out, it was so dark, but it appeared as if the darkness was a physical mist, or fog. It parted slightly; allowing Ryan to see back to where Thomas Zane was, well, "floating" and surprisingly, he wasn't the only figure in the darkness.

It was a standoff between him, and an old lady dressed in a widow's outfit, Zane on the left, the woman on the right. When she spoke it was a horrible, growling voice that made you want to plug your ears, but Ryan persevered.

"You're more of an annoyance than I thought you would be, writer," The old hag said, cloaked in darkness. "It's time you left."

"This is for Barbara!" Thomas shouted as he lunged at the old widow. Ryan thought he would crush her with his heavy suit, but she just swatted him aside like a fly and sent him flying into the fog, covering up his light. _She doesn't seem friendly, _Ryan thought, _maybe she hasn't noticed me. _She then slowly turned towards him, a wicked smile on her face. Ryan looked down as he felt a light pressure on his chest. The last thing he saw before waking was a tendril of darkness boring into his chest.

He woke with a start, a cold sweat on his brow, clutching his chest as he found it hard to breathe. Emily stared at him, eyes wide with concern, "Ryan?" she asked tentatively, "Are you okay?"

He started to cough uncontrollably, reaching into his pocket to grab his lucky gear, and it started to burn his hand slightly. Ryan could feel the cough subsiding and gripped the gear tighter. Emily put her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Ryan?" she said again, wondering if he was sick. Ryan took the gear out of his pocket and looked at it, wondering why it burned him, and saw a subsiding glow coming from it.

"I need to see the town records." He said without looking up. That dream solidified that something wasn't right in this town, and he aimed to find out what.

"Why?" Emily asked, unsettled by the recent turn of events.

"Ill tell you later," Ryan replied.

"You'll just have to wait till we're off the ferry."

"Call Sarah and tell her to meet us there then." Ryan said with a rather vile edge to his voice.

"Ok, just calm down!"

"I'M PERFECTLY CALM!" he screamed.

Emily only looked at him with deep concern; _Ryan's never so much as had an annoyed tone with me, _she thought, _something must have really upset him. _

Neither of them had any idea just how much.


	4. Chapter 3

**(A/N): Sorry this one took so long, I've been really busy. Review to tell me what I should be doing with my writing please!**

Chapter 3

They made it to Sheriff Breaker's office without incident. Emily nervously glancing over at Ryan every few minutes; as he stared ominously out the window of their car. Sheriff Breaker gave Ryan everything they had on Thomas Zane. He had owned a small island on Cauldron Lake, which came to be known as Diver's Isle, because of Zane's love for diving. The volcano under the lake erupted, destroying Diver's Isle, Zane, and Zane's love, Barbara Jagger. All of these articles were written by Cynthia Weaver, who apparently had a secret crush on Zane. Ms. Weaver works at the Bright Falls power plant many people call her the "lamp lady" because of the lamp she always carries around. At the end of the newspaper articles there was a picture of Thomas in his diving suit standing next to Barbara.

They were identical to the figures in Ryan's dream, though Jagger looked much younger.

After Ryan was finished Emily suggested they take him to the doctor. Ryan simply rubbed the cold sweat off of his brow once more and insisted that they check in at the Lodge first. "I need to talk with Dr. Hartman," he said. "He was Zane's writing assistant."

Emily had no idea what her husband was rambling on about, but if anyone could get him back to normal, it would be the famous psychiatrist. They bid Sarah farewell and told her that her father said hello. At this she smiled sadly, as she hadn't seen her father in a very long time. _Maybe I should call him after this business with the writer and his wife is over, _she thought. _I can't believe he punched Dr. Hartman in the nose! He needs to learn some self-control. _

Ryan turned as he heard the sheriff say this, except her mouth wasn't moving. As she thought these thoughts and headed back into the station, Ryan felt the pain in his chest act up for the third time. _We never should of come here, _he thought as he staggered toward the car. _I've got to find Zane before this thing kills me! _The pain was increasing with every passing moment, as if someone was twisting a knife in his chest. He got in the car and noticed Emily's frightened look. Ryan felt a huge amount of guilt, putting her through his inexplicable and unusual behavior. He forced the pain down for the moment and gave her his best, everything-is-going-to-be-fine smile. She turned her eyes toward the road and started driving towards the Lodge.

As they arrived at the Cauldron Lake Lodge, it was nighttime, with the moon high in the sky. Emily and Ryan both looked at their watches in confusion, as they read only 3:00 p.m. Ryan kept walking completely unphased toward the front door. Darkness slowly killing you from the inside out will make you care very little for the time of day. They approached the door, unable to see inside with the lights out. _That's odd, _Emily thought, as Ryan knocked on the door. _Shouldn't they ha-_**BOOM!**

And then the door exploded.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After the explosion everything seemed to go in slow motion. Pieces of wood and glass flying towards Ryan and Emily like shrapnel from a fragmentation grenade. Ryan instinctively moved in front of Emily and put his arms around her to make sure she was protected as much as possible. Strangely there was no heat, or force of explosion. It was as if a cannonball just crashed through the door. Once the shrapnel stopped flying, Ryan slowly turned to see just what the hell made the door spontaneously destroy itself. What he saw was a man standing there holding a fire axe, completely unscathed, standing in the newly "refurbished" doorway. It was impossible to see the man's face, as it was covered in an unnatural smoke-like substance. He appeared to be _literally _radiating the black substance, and several pools of its liquid form lay at his feet. Ryan had always been a quick one, and immediately recognized who this strange man was.

It was Dr. Emil Hartman.

"Time for…_your_…MEDICINE!" Hartman screamed with varying tones and pitches, as if he was one of his own patients. Quicker than anyone should be able to move, he brought out a syringe and threw it end over end at the young couple.

Ryan cried out in pain as the needle planted itself in his right shoulder, flying backwards for several feet from the unnatural force of the throw, before skidding to a stop. He pulled out the syringe and tossed it aside, the pain in his chest flaring to a point where it started to blur his vision. He looked up in time to see a blur sweep across Emily's figure, making her disappear from sight. Ryan reached out a hand to the spot where Emily had stood and, in an attempt to stand, fall forward onto his stomach, consciousness fleeing him.

The last thing the inventor remembered of that moment, was what felt like two large clothespins grabbing onto the back of his shirt, and lifting him up.


End file.
